Osborn asks, Why be a Christian? After considering some of the typical answers tradition has
offered, he contends that only one works: because Christianity is about truth, the truth that bears
the name, Jesus. It's all about Jesus-a most faithful Jewish son of God, who was called by his
Father, the Lord God of Israel, to be the witness to the coming kingdom of God. This ministry
brought him into conflict with authorities and with the power of the death they wielded, thus
raising serious questions about Jesus and his authority. His crucifixion appeared to answer the
question in the negative. However, there was a divine irony in the cross as revealed by the
resurrection-namely, that the life and especially the death of Jesus was really the story of God's
victory over death and the evil it empowers, and thus the decisive event of Jesus's messiahship.
Yet, while death is defeated and has no future it nevertheless persists, and the church, which God
brings into being as a result of Jesus's ministry is called to continue in the power of Jesus to fight
against death, especially its manifestation in social/political evil, as well as in personal sin.